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Dow Jones tumbles, oil falls below $30 a barrel

By:
Associated Press

Posted at 7:26 AM, Jan 15, 2016

and last updated2016-01-15 11:19:58-05

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks tumbled in morning trading Friday as the price of crude oil dropped below $30 a barrel, pulling energy company shares sharply lower. Discouraging data on retail sales and manufacturing also weighed on the market. The market slide was broad, with financial and technology stocks among the biggest decliners.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average slid 401 points, or 2.5 percent, to 15,977 as of 11:06 a.m. Eastern Time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 49 points, or 2.6 percent, to 1,872. The Nasdaq composite dropped 143 points, or 3.1 percent, to 4,471. The Dow and S&P 500 have now fallen about 8 percent this year, while the Nasdaq is off 10.7 percent.

THE QUOTE: "Oil is the root cause of today," said Dan Farley, regional investment strategist at the Private Client Reserve at U.S. Bank. "People are uncertain, and when they're uncertain they're scared."

VOLATILE MARKET: Stocks were coming off a broad rally on Thursday that gave the S&P 500 index its biggest gain since early December. That gain was a reversal from a day earlier, when the market turned in its worst day since September. Behind the market swings are growing investor jitters about the slowdown in China's massive economy, plunging oil prices and the implications those trends may have for U.S. corporations.

OIL PRICES: The price of crude oil fell to the lowest level since 2003. Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.57, or 5 percent, to $29.63 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, fell $1.49, or 4.8 percent, to $29.39 a barrel in London. The steep slump in crude from over $100 a barrel in the summer of 2014 has eviscerated energy company profits and made it much harder for them to pay off their debts.

TIED TO OIL: Several oil, gas and mining companies were down sharply along with oil prices. Marathon Oil slid $1.28, or 14.1 percent, to $7.79. Chesapeake Energy fell 37 cents, or about 10 percent, to $3.34. Murphy Oil lost $1.64, or 8.9 percent, to $16.78. Chevron shed $3.25, or 3.8 percent, to $82.22.

VEGAS, BABY: Wynn Resorts jumped 8.6 percent after the casino operator said it expects to report a larger operating profit from its Las Vegas business. The stock climbed $4.41 to $55.91.

DISCOURAGING DATA: The Federal Reserve said U.S. industrial production, which includes manufacturing, mining and utilities, dropped in December for the third month in a row. A separate report from the Commerce Department indicated U.S. retail sales dipped last month. Meanwhile, a measure of inflation before it reaches consumers declined in December.

ASIA'S DAY: In China, the Shanghai Composite Index finished down 3.6 percent, sliding to its lowest close since Dec. 8, 2014. China's official Xinhua News Agency reported that banks' new loans during the last month fell over a year earlier, in a sign that momentum for the credit that fuels economic growth was slowing. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1.5 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.5 percent and South Korea's Kospi slid 1.1 percent.

BONDS AND CURRENCIES: Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.02 percent from 2.09 percent late Thursday. The euro rose to $1.0952 from $1.0862, while the dollar fell to 116.81 yen from 118.15 yen.